One physical attribute that provides flexibility in metals is the presence of dislocations within the lattice structure of the metal thus allowing the metal to flex and bend. A bending force causes the dislocation to propagate through the metal. Such a characteristic has several drawbacks. First, the ability of the dislocation to propagate through the metal reduces the ability of the metal to resist bending and shear forces. Further, the ability of a metal to bend becomes more pronounced at higher temperatures. Secondly, repetitive or excessive bending can cause the dislocations to aggregate and cause metal embrittlement. It is known in the field of material science that if an oxide material is added to a metal alloy where the oxide particles have the proper size, quantity, and a substantially uniform dispersion, then these oxide particles can interrupt the propagation of a dislocation through the metal lattice. As a result, the metal is strengthened and will better resist bending forces at high temperatures. This attribute is especially important in applications such as the hot end of a jet turbine. The turbine discs are exposed to the hot exhaust gasses that are weakened by the high operating temperatures. It is preferable to operate turbines at the highest possible temperature to achieve the highest possible operating efficiencies. Thus, any method to produce a stronger turbine disc, which provides for a higher operating temperature, is highly desirable.
For years, people skilled in the relevant art have known of the advantages of oxide dispersion strengthened alloys. However, it is also known that the current state-of-the-art has not developed technology to form an alloy with evenly dispersed oxide particles of a nanometer size required to interrupt the dislocation propagation. Mixing the oxide-nanoparticles into a molten alloy has failed to result in an even dispersion of oxide particles of the proper size and thus has failed to achieve the sought after theoretical strength increases. This is because oxide particles are immiscible with a molten alloy but will clump when added. What is needed is a method of forming an oxide dispersion strengthened alloy with nano-sized oxide particles where the oxide particles are evenly distributed throughout the alloy lattice structure.